Web browsers are ubiquitously employed by users to access content, such as Web pages and files, over the Internet. However, there is a significant amount of harmful content on the Web. For example, malware, such as viruses or worms, may be installed on a user's computer as a result of the user accessing an infected website or downloading a file using a browser. Further, certain websites may be phishing websites that masquerade as a trustworthy entity, and attempt to collect valuable information, such as passwords and financial data, from users for malicious purposes.
Thus, the browser is a key entry point for malicious software. Although many modern browsers include security features which may be user-enabled, browser users are typically unsophisticated and do not make adequate use of such security features or actually disable certain security features in order to make browsing simpler.
The risks posed by Web browsers are dramatically increased in an enterprise environment, where computer resources are shared and networked together. For example, malware downloaded via one user's browser can self-replicate and spread to different network resources in the enterprise.
Conventionally, information technology (IT) administrators in an enterprise have not had an adequate way to manage the security aspects, options, and policies of user browsers. Typically an IT administrator needs to separately manage each browser installation on enterprise computers. Such an approach is time consuming and subject to errors and lapses.